Image link: https://xzddf.com/en/article/26
Introduction#
Originally, I intended to title this "How to Learn English in Six Months," but the essence of English is not a mental test; it is a skill, a tool for communication. Therefore, "How to Master English in Six Months" or "How to Speak English Fluently in Six Months" would be more accurate.
First, we should view English learning like acquiring skills such as driving or cooking—starting from practice. The key to mastering any skill is "practice makes perfect." Only through repeated practice can muscle memory be formed, allowing true mastery. Conversely, if a skill is not used for a long time, it will gradually become rusty and forgotten.
Muscle memory: Refers to subconscious responses that occur without thinking. For example, when someone asks you, 'How are you?' you will immediately respond, 'I am fine,' rather than breaking down the sentence, translating it word by word into Chinese, and then organizing the Chinese answer before translating it back into English. If such a response requires too much thought, it turns into a mental test, causing the conversation to lag like a buffering video.
Personal experience: The blogger once had a severe bias in subjects, relying on guessing for English exams, and even almost forgot the alphabet. In 2015, I began self-studying English through online courses, using "New Concept English" as the textbook, and diligently completed the first book, mastering some basic grammar and vocabulary at a preschool level.
One day, I saw someone sharing their learning experience, saying that as long as the vocabulary is large enough, one can master English. So I abandoned the textbook and crazily memorized words for a thousand days. However, because I did not apply the words in practice (such as doing exercises or communicating), I memorized and forgot, forgot and memorized, resulting in no gains and not knowing how to string these words together, lacking even basic sentence construction skills.
By 2018, I felt deeply frustrated with my English learning and even considered giving up. This lasted for five years until I started learning again in 2023. At that time, my vocabulary had regressed to a preschool level, and after testing, I could only remember about 800 words. Since I started relearning English last year, more than half a year has passed, and I can now understand videos with English subtitles without barriers and communicate with foreigners while traveling. Although my grammar still has many errors, the other party can fully understand and does not mind. English, like driving or cooking, improves continuously through practice.
How to Practice English#
Since English is an interactive skill, it cannot be developed in isolation like other skills. Effective improvement in English proficiency must come through interaction, but many people are shy or embarrassed and do not dare to actively seek practice with foreigners.
For beginners, the blogger recommends using the Duolingo App. Spend an hour learning each morning and evening; all sentences in Duolingo need to be repeated, memorized, and written down with pen and paper.
Duolingo is an educational and entertaining app that does not directly teach grammar but helps users understand grammar through subtle influences during the learning process. In other words, users naturally grasp grammar knowledge while practically using English.
When the Duolingo score reaches 60-70 (approximately B1 level), you can start focused practice, beginning with input (reading and listening).
Reading#
Read English books for half an hour every day; it is recommended to use the Xiao A Reading App to import the entire series of "The Boxcar Children." Xiao A Reading can mark new words and automatically translate them, and it is completely free. After finishing this book, try using the Language Reactor plugin to watch interesting YouTube videos with English subtitles, continuing to learn through marking new words and automatic translation.
Listening#
When you start watching videos in English, you are actually training your listening skills without realizing it. To systematically improve your listening level, you can use the Voscreen website for targeted practice. This website breaks English videos into sentence fragments, allowing you to focus on the sentences themselves rather than the overall video content.
Additionally, you can listen to the audio of “8000 English Sentences” during your commute; these short sentences are close to daily life, and after becoming familiar with them, your listening response speed will naturally improve.
The more input you accumulate, the smoother your output will be. In writing and speaking, you can directly use the example sentences memorized from Duolingo, simply replacing key words.
Writing#
To increase interest, you can register on some foreign social platforms (like TikTok, Instagram), frequently immerse yourself in English comment sections, and interact using the Grammarly Keyboard App. This keyboard automatically corrects grammatical errors while you type or allows you to practice conversation with AI through PI.AI, which will provide topics and use natural, everyday language.
Speaking#
If you want to practice speaking for free, you can use the Language Exchange App or Video Matching Website to voice or video chat with foreigners. However, these types of apps vary in quality; some users may have impure motives and lack patience. The blogger suggests considering paid foreign teacher classes, searching for Filipino teacher classes on Taobao, which cost about 30 yuan per lesson (40 minutes). Foreign teachers are serious and patient in class and can provide targeted guidance.
Additionally, do not overly fixate on grammatical correctness; the focus should be on expressing content. Even if there is confusion between he, she, him, and her, foreigners will not mind at all; they can still understand your meaning.
Vocabulary#
If you are not preparing for an exam, the blogger does not recommend deliberately memorizing words. If you have time, you can memorize new words naturally accumulated through reading and import these new words into a vocabulary app for review, such as the MoMo Vocabulary App or the No Memorization Vocabulary App.
Grammar#
Through Duolingo, you have already been subtly exposed to a lot of grammar knowledge, but in practical use, you often only know how to use it correctly without necessarily understanding the underlying principles (knowing it exists but not why it exists).
It is recommended to repeatedly review the grammar points of each unit in Duolingo and use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to ask questions and understand grammar you do not comprehend. Compared to traditional grammar books or videos, AI can interactively help you delve into details, allowing for a deeper understanding of grammar rather than just a superficial grasp.